


Ropes and Ladders

by peoriapeoria



Series: Fitter of the Species [27]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Canon Character of Color, Charles Xavier - Freeform, Daily Bugle, Ethics, Gen, Government, Military, News Media, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, Sokovia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-09
Updated: 2017-05-09
Packaged: 2018-10-29 23:42:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 5,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10864575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peoriapeoria/pseuds/peoriapeoria
Summary: Barnes looked at the destroyed lab. Glass crunched under his feet, bodies were sprawled on the floor, slumped over benches. He searched. No survivors.He accessed one of the computers, brought up files. He read through them, then left.The Avengers welcome a new resident to the Tower and history exacts its due.





	1. Chapter 1

Steve rushed onto the landing deck, halting outside the effect radius of the landing X-men helicopter. She tried to look cheery for Kurt Wagner's arrival. The casual disregard, as if it were a petty inconvenience to manage, in negotiating the disposition of a young man had made the Avengers' agreement unanimous. Steve feared that had been taken into Xavier's accounting, making shorter work of the matter. Peggy had used the approbation of "less considered than selling a horse or painting" of certain officers and this fit. The advantage was Kurt's, Steve repeated this internally. 

Kurt got out, brown hair not much moved by the slowing rotor, button down only missing a bowtie to give a totally dated feel. Logan leaped out too, carrying a large duffle. The short man slapped Steve on the shoulder, turning her from Doctor McCoy in the pilot's seat. "Cap here should know all about the museums, at least the art ones."

The USO tour had given Steve some skills in putting a good spin on a shitty situation. "I thought we'd start at your suite, introduce you to your neighbors and then head to the common floor to meet the Avengers." She wondered why Hank was staying with the bird, knowing full well of JARVIS' capabilities.

Steve looked at the fruit basket sitting on the kitchen bar with suspicion. "Not that you have to fend for yourself... Over here is your bedroom," Steve opened the door displaying the made bed with a short stack of towels and small toiletries. "That wall is storage behind doors." Steve pointed opposite, "That's the bathroom." Steve let Kurt take off his backpack and set it down on the floor. Logan did the same with the duffel.

"There's a..." Steve looked at the sectional and decided to skip it. "work table. The lighting is totally adjustable." JARVIS demonstrated. "You've got a tablet and a panel screen." The shelf couldn't have been just put together. Steve peered down and saw the added base weights. Bucky.

"This floor is you, Wanda and Pietro Maximoff, Darcy Lewis and Vision." Steve realized Xavier never said what powers Kurt had. "Darcy herds scientists for Stark Industries and she tasered a god."

"Vision?" inquired Kurt. His English was lightly accented and a strong tenor.

"Let's meet him and the others." Steve said brightly. Steve led them back out and Darcy waved from the sitting niche past the bend. Here they were below the spires of Steve's New York, if fantastically close. Vision was wearing slacks with a light pullover sweater; it made the cowling effect stranger without the context of costume, lines disappearing into his collar, the green vee related to nothing but hair which it was not. Pietro had on jeans with a silvery retro shirt that nearly matched some of his hair. Wanda's red today was flared pants and a neo-gothic sleeved top.

"Kurt Vagner, pleased to meet you." Wanda greeted the youth as she stood from her seat.

"I've been using the American pronunciation." His smile was pleased, if wistful at its proper sound.

"Pietro and Wanda are from Sokovia," Steve explained, hopeful that geography wasn't discounted at Xavier's Institute

"I'm Darcy, I'm the floor RA." She reached over to shake, smiling as Kurt shook her hand back.

Steve wanted to believe that was still a joke but, no, given matters as they all too frequently were, she was. Steve looked around the group, the twins less comfortable than Darcy. She decided to keep things moving, "Let's go meet the team." They all got into the elevator, challenging even without glass sides.


	2. Chapter 2

Captain America led them out on the common floor, Ms. Lewis and the Maximoffs first. Darcy fell back behind him while Captain America continued the introductions, "Kurt, this is Sam Wilson." The African-American man held himself as a fighter. "Clint Barton, Phil Coulson." Kurt recognized Mr. Barton from the attempted invasion of New York and like Mr. Wilson was just that touch different in his stance. She continued, "Dr. Bruce Banner." Kurt thought she was distracted, as if she expected others. He knew that Dr. McCoy had consulted with Dr. Banner and he was perhaps rumpled from being called from the lab. Mr. Coulson was more confusing, wearing an excellent suit. Neither Thor nor Nomad was there; Hulk and Tony Stark's absences were understandable for distinct reasons.

A red-haired woman came into the room, snacking. Dangerous, Kurt judged her carriage of loose confidence. Captain America grinned and shook her head. "Natasha, let me present Kurt Wagner."

She handed him the bowl. Kurt got his hand under it, regarding them and judging that he was okay, that he had passed an unannounced quiz. He wondered just why the Avengers had acquired two foreign nationals during a recent altercation. He still didn't know much about Vision, who was strikingly out of place here.

"Okay, so let's all go into the kitchen and eat something if we're going to be awkward," Sam interjected.

"Sounds like a plan." agreed Captain America as she joined Dr. Banner.

Kurt was not unaware the two were romantically involved though their tension didn't seem to be of that nature. He however wasn't the only one perplexed by Mr. Coulson, as Captain America was splitting focus between Dr. Banner and Mr. Coulson. The team dynamics were very interesting.

Kurt took in the table built in with high-backed benches and the counter seating. The food smelled good. The team seemed at ease with each other, Ms. Lewis pulling out beverages while Mr. Barton started loading two plates. Ms. Romanov, he had watched the congressional hearings, grabbed pot mitts and retrieved a casserole from one of the ovens.

"Do you like cheese? Any allergies?" She waited until he shook his head, then thrust a plate with a big spoonful of cheese and pasta at him. Vision handed him a fork. He took a bite. It was very good. He took another bite.


	3. Chapter 3

James Rhodes entered from the loading dock door, swiping the access card through the reader. He stepped into the locker room and pulled on a custodian smock before grabbing a cleaner cart. He worked his way up until he could make the drop, then reversed to come back, return the cart and walk out.

Pepper picked up the slip of paper and grabbed a tote. She headed into the ladies room and a stall, pulling out items from the tote, swapping them for her current clothes. Done, she unscrewed the access panel and stuffed the tote inside before screwing the panel back closed. She stepped out of the stall, washed her hands and touched up her makeup.

She exited the building with the out surge of employees for the subway stop. She got into the car and rode hanging onto the strap. She got off and climbed up the stairs, crossed the street and entered the bookstore. It took two tries to find the bookmark. She browsed through another section and purchased a book.

She slipped into the hole in the wall restaurant sitting across from Rhodey. He handed her the steamboat bowl of hot broth, noodles and sliced meat and vegetables before putting more choices into the cooking vessel. She judged this place was using induction hobs set into the tables.

Rhodes read Pepper's tension in her face. "Not that." He watched her relax. For now Tony was safe, this wasn't Afghanistan again. He busied himself preparing his food. "It's coming. When Tony was hitting the same places, when they thought he'd be won back to making their weapons, when they thought he'd get bored..."

She sipped her broth from the spoon. "Do they know?"

"You were targeted because you're the CEO of the once premier arms manufacturer. The Avengers no longer have the aegis of SHIELD. Conscription. Making that palatable is what remains."

Pepper gripped his hand, released it, and ate.


	4. Chapter 4

Steve still didn't know where Bucky had gotten to after getting Clint to help him move the shelf. She thought things went well with Kurt all considered. Sam had made a good call; his macaroni and cheese certainly was a hit. Wanda and Pietro didn't join in, though they did eat some fruit.

Phil's suit choice still niggled. She supposed it countered Xavier's power play.


	5. Chapter 5

Barnes crouched in the packed freight pod stowed in the belly of a cargo plane. Goggles and a black scarf made him an inky puddle of shadow, armor creak and arm whir fading into the ambient noises.


	6. Chapter 6

"Steve." Bruce came into the living room, yoga pants low slung. Steve was sketching with the sharp quick lines of caricature; the glance over her shoulder confirmed. He'd never thought Charles Xavier and Yul Brynner at the same time. The Wild West meets Pharaoh was disturbingly apt. The chair had been restyled in a Cecil B. DeMille Egyptian take, but the hat was pure spaghetti western. "So let it be written" was inscribed over Xavier and he heard it with the man's distinct tones.

"Is it late?" Steve glanced over her shoulder.

"I'm hardly the one to call that." Bruce crouched, so he could look up at Steve. "It's shitty, we agree and somehow we'll make it less shitty for Kurt."

Steve smiled lopsidedly, lowering the sketchpad. "Sweet-talker."

"Is it working?" Bruce asked.

"I could come to bed." She sat the pencil and pad on the coffee table and got up, tabling her annoyance with the situation. She crowded Bruce, getting two good handfuls before breaking away and heading into the bedroom. Steve stripped and pulled on sleep shorts and shirt. She spooned around Bruce, listening to him drift into sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

Phil picked up his coffee mug and found that it was empty. Checking his watch he considered his options. "JARVIS, where is Clint?"

"Common kitchen."

He could spare a little time for a waffle. He got up, bringing the mug with and took the elevator to the common floor. Xavier Institute had sent over Kurt Wagner's records and he'd been going over them, trying to figure out how to provide him with instruction.

Footage of Washington, D.C. played in the main room as Phil stepped out of the elevator. The crawl identified it, saving him the embarrassment of thinking it was live. Funny thing about this sort of work, the same places were targeted time and again. Someone had stitched together every captured image of The Winter Soldier. There weren't as many as one might think; some people did have self-preservation instincts. One image was frozen or rather looped on one side of the screen while pictures from Sokovia played on the other. The Winter Soldier clawing the road like a break would have been just after Jasper Sitwell's death.

"Nomad, harbored by the Avengers is none other than the D.C. Destroyer." The talking heads kept up a stream of words as the helicarrier sliced into the Triskelion. Phil didn't know everyone that died that day, but SHIELD had been his world. He'd been busy that day and weeks after. So many mistakes. Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? How had he missed the monster John Garrett became? So many questions.

Clint stepped into the main room as the blather tried to cover the repeating images. He'd gone over everything after the fact; he'd been busy at the time, SHIELD disintegrating while he was in the field. He'd been allowed by then to know his husband was alive. He wasn't sure that was still true for days. Steve was messed up. She'd had to fight a ghost, someone that had become his friend too, after recovering himself. Decades. Lost decades, Barnes more than Phil. Phil was here and his. Clint had started his fracture with SHIELD after Loki's control. Too many agents dead from his aim had a way of doing that. Phil had been more invested in SHIELD; he'd been invested in Phil even before he'd taken a chance and won.

Sam watched the tv and judged Clint's response to Phil's distress concurrently. He was out of the VA but the VA wasn't out of him, not the habits of a group counseling leader. The voices focused on the weapon and not the enemy; HYDRA was made to sound like a natural clique of SHIELD. Alexander Pierce had been buried without the expected pomp but his memory was unburdened by the choices he'd made. That gracious allowance was going cost them. It was going to cost Barnes, it was going to cost the Avengers, it was going to cost him, but most assuredly it was going to cost Steve. He looked to her.

"JARVIS, patch me to Bucky", Steve asked as the video jumped; they'd been watching on time delay.

"I'm sorry, I can't do that," JARVIS replied.

"Elevator." Steve walked to the closed door.

"He's not on his floor," JARVIS stated.

Steve spun, reminded of the so very wrong and yet real Times Square. "When did he leave?" Had Bucky seen this? JARVIS didn't answer. 

Darcy stepped out of the elevator. "Did we get a bird? I almost tripped on this cage liner." She took in the stunned looks of the Avengers and dropped the Daily Bugle. "What's going on?"

"Ms. Lewis, a word in the kitchen." JARVIS intoned.

Bruce opened the paper, rifling for the editorial page.


	8. Chapter 8

Barnes looked at the destroyed lab. Glass crunched under his feet, bodies were sprawled on the floor, slumped over benches. He searched. No survivors.

He accessed one of the computers, brought up files. He read through them, then left.


	9. Chapter 9

"Kurt, things are a little hectic, so, pick a few of these, read them and then either write a paper, or design a poster. Unless you knit amigurumi. Crochet is fine too." Darcy handed over the stack of books, including _Frankenstein_ , _The Three Theban Plays_ , and _Flatland_.

"There is something wrong?"

"Just the news cycle, no sweat. You can also watch the Globe Theater productions of Shakespeare plays, that's totally legit." Darcy thought a moment. "Not all of Shakespeare is suitable to amigurumi."


	10. Chapter 10

"I've been making strides in bionics. Your district has a top-notch research hospital. Returning veterans deserve the best."

"How about our active duty servicemen deserving the best?" The congressman got up. "OsCorp hasn't been keeping up without Stark Industries setting the benchmarks."

Tony put his palm over his reknitted sternum. "Flattering as that is, Stark Industries has left that particular arena. My father got into the weapons business as he did most things, but it's not in anyone's best interest to keep coming up with more expensive ways to wage war."

"Rich coming from a man with a private army."

"Charitable emergency response team. I just pay the bills."

"And Nomad? Is that the secret to your strides?"

Tony looked at the congressman. Focused on him. "You knew the belated Alexander Pierce, didn't you?"

"I did. He worked hard for international peace. I suppose you've got a board that says 'this many days without destroying a city'? You licensed kids' toys of Nomad."

"Only as parts of sets. Manufactured in America."

"Mad as a hatter, Tony. Go ply your wares somewhere else, but leave my assistant something about the bionics."

Tony grinned and left, proffering the glossy packet to Herself on the way out. This was the way the game was played. He mentioned the toys, politicians decided where to make noise or refrain from making noise. No linkage, win win all around.


	11. Chapter 11

Wanda was transfixed by the coverage. The cycling between Washington, D.C. and Sokovia was disturbing. Her homeland had been a war zone for so long, even had the media wanted to show a 'before' they wouldn't have been able to source video. She couldn't grasp what this must have meant, seeing terror stalking down the seat of American government.

Barnes was not just the sum of his experiences. When she had tried to sway him on their first meeting she had seen into him, seen the nightmares he'd come through. They, her brother and herself, had brought further misery on their Sokovia and still Barnes had fought for people he didn't know, forgotten people the world had turned their backs on.

"No good deed goes unpunished". Frightened people do horrible things. She knew this from the inside. The damage battling Ultron's army to his uniform connected the dots for people. His shining metal arm being the one thing connecting Nomad to the Wraith. This was more fruit of their storm.


	12. Chapter 12

Natasha had found three HYDRA, two retired spies and a Senator with a lovestruck staffer on seeking James. She supposed it was just possible one of the former spies was HYDRA, but honestly, if she was, she'd be more scared knowing the Winter Soldier hadn't left the board. Of the three certifiable HYDRA, two thought they were scared enough and were self-delusional.

The third one might pose a problem, being highly placed in a sovereign government.

E-mail and bank statements truly were a spy's best friend.


	13. Chapter 13

Rhodes turned off the tv. The Italian commentary of Rai 1 didn't match the paper headlines of the English language press exactly but the thrust was still the same. So far, nothing from Sokovia had Iron Patriot in frame. He began his wind down meditation; he had a mission in the morning. Morning for Italy, somewhat later at the target. He'd have to trust the Avengers to manage their PR fallout.


	14. Chapter 14

Barnes dodged the explosive launched at him. He was sliding down the tailings anytime he slowed from his upward run. There was no cover.

"Mike, I'm not the enemy." Barnes called out to carry. 

Peterson shot again. The smell reminded him of Italy, days of shelling. It was the dust igniting. He was standing on incomplete gunpowder. They'd lost the advantage of surprise. He hadn't come up with a convincing argument but Xavier had delivered the perfect distraction. Something like this was better without too many opinions; Steve had those in abundance. 

"I'm an Avenger." He shouted it; it wasn't like anyone thought they were Avon calling.

Another explosion just missed him and a beam weapon from higher ground seared a line much too close. Company. Well, that might be one way to make his case. He kept avoiding Mike's fire and focused on, whoever these players were. Soon, Mike saw it his way and started attacking the enemy.


	15. Chapter 15

Reporters had the self-preservation skills, of well, Steve, but without the Serum or armor-plated helicopters. They really owed Sue Richards big-time for averting significant injuries to the fourth estate. Steve looked out at the press gathered, nervous as before jumping out of Howard's plane, or leaping from the factory catwalk. 

"I know you have questions about Nomad and Washington, D.C. It is true that I fought him, or rather who he was then, in order to stop Project Insight. As a result of that fight, he broke his conditioning and regained his true memories. The truth is, Nomad is James Buchanan Barnes." Steve paused for the tumult of shock and questions. "I know, it is scarcely believable. It surprised me too, but it is the truth. I know, because I fought with Barnes in World War Two. I'm the original Captain America."

Bedlam. Steve exited stage left.


	16. Chapter 16

A.I.M. He was fighting A.I.M. even though Cybertek swag was a fine detritus in the office and lab spaces. Really, it was all office and lab excluding the hallways. The effect of that was lots of drones and bots. Somewhere there was a control room, though whether that was on-site, still questionable.

Mike Peterson was effective, but this kind of fight wasn't his strong suit. Barnes flipped desks and circled around. He wanted the pilots scared and stupid. Mike stomped a bot.


	17. Chapter 17

The Daily Bugle went deep. They printed photos from the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s. Jonah waxed about love of country, service and the debts owed to those that died and survived in the armed forces. The paper also printed a lot of Nomad pictures.

Talking heads rehashed the events of Washington, D.C., and bloviated over footage of the Battle for New York. The tabloids ran a weird mix of cradle-robber covers with pictures of Steve and Bruce and recaps of WWII.

There were questions. Where had Captain America been when the nation needed her? Why wasn't she deployed?

Steve Rogers looked down at the not quite navy blue jacket, part Eisenhower, part General Organa. "Janet-"

"Something old, something borrowed, something blue. This will resonate with everyone that matters. You look fierce and civil."

Steve looked down at the trousers that were cut slim until the knee and broadened slightly from there. "You've put a lot of thought into this. Did you come up with all of this just recently?"

"I think ahead. While this isn't when I would have expected, eventually you were going to have to talk to a Committee. I feel it not being a kevlar occasion is best."

"Put that way, thank you for anticipating a need. You've done good work," Steve complimented. "Do I pass muster?"

"You'll do." Jan stayed stern briefly, then hugged Steve.


	18. Chapter 18

Barnes crouched out of camera and pivot gun sight-lines while Mike kicked in the door. He came in ray gun zapping. They'd picked up some matériel before following AIM here. He'd drove. Mike had slept most of the way, and he'd accepted that was for the best. Man must have needed it.

Men kept coming, so this had to be a HYDRA shop. He regretted that he didn't regret not regretting killing HYDRA. These weren't their best, and they only had numbers in their favor. It wasn't a big favor even if a big number. They'd just cycle through the system anyway. They weren't smart enough for other employment.

Here they did find subjects, live victims. Keeping them that way, harder than fighting HYDRA.

He texted Sam. "Medic needed. ETA?" He texted JARVIS to release GPS coordinates to Sam alone. He flipped the phone to vibrate and slipped it back away before calling to Mike. "I might be out of date. Let me know." He got back to keeping their victims survivors.


	19. Chapter 19

Sam's phone was blowing up. He was on site but not actually in Chambers. JARVIS was overriding his phone, which meant he needed to take the call. He needed to not take it here, suit or no suit. He appended himself to various tour groups to make his way outside and down the steps. He opened his phone. Text message. From Barnes. He pressed the callback button. No dice. Of course not. He read the message. "hot?" he typed back.

"No, urgent. Emergency room. M*A*S*H*"

Sam considered the message, the situation, and the GPS. "may have someone" He typed in a number he would never put into his contacts, JARVIS or no JARVIS, and then a message. He sent another text to Barnes, "soon. instruct"

"Will escort. Out." The whole conversation disappeared and he couldn't get another line to Barnes. Problem wasn't local, JARVIS would have bricked the phone in that case. He had to decide whether to send an abort. He decided that 'Out.' meant he shouldn't. Damn Barnes, he'd played him. Had him buying 'telegram'. He pinged Coulson.

They had, as the least recognizable members of the team, been Steve's wingmen. The situation had changed and he needed to clear, for his friends' safety and his own. Phil had an edge he didn't if this became a shooting situation. White men get asked questions.

He didn't know what he'd sent his friends into. Barnes clearly had picked up more tech savvy and popular culture than he'd let on. He didn't know why Barnes had left without saying something, but Sam figured it was related to Steve and her tenacity when someone else took the stupid ball. She thought it was all hers.

He kept walking, D.C. parking was terrible.


	20. Chapter 20

"My last mission during WWII is classified."

Steve hadn't checked if that was true. She knew that it wouldn't be in a computer database, so no one else could say one way or another during this hearing. Her discovery wasn't in the SHIELD files Natasha had released; Fury's partitioning had one upside. The Senators were dealing with this on the news cycle's clock.

Steve and the esteemed Senators had put much of WWII into the record. They were preening for the cameras.

"What sort of answer is that to why you had no involvement in the trials that have rocked the United States up until the Chitauri invasion?"

"I had no involvement because I wasn't here. Likely someone has me photobombing a picture in Times Square several weeks before the Battle for New York. I wasn't sure HYDRA didn't have me. That fear was to prove prescient."

"You'll pardon me finding it hard to believe that you were in the thick of WWII, then suddenly in 21st century New York."

"We are in agreement, Senator."

The assembled chuckled.

"What purpose did the smoke and mirrors serve, so that you didn't make this announcement then, during the Chitauri clean up?"

"What would that have served? I had learned that men that had hardly been more than boys had aged as their compatriots couldn't have imagined. I was swept further forward in time than separated my birth from the end of the Civil War."


	21. Chapter 21

One of the victims didn't make it. Sam's friends were good, they had gotten the others transport stable. He'd found some spray paint and handed it to Mike, to cover the HYDRA markings on a helicopter. He had already checked it for fuel and that he remembered how to fly it.

"Mike, you need to see your son."

The spray can went silent.

"Why do you think I came after you?"

"No idea."

"Kids grow up fast. He needs you. You're a family and that's more real than anything we do out here. These shitholes don't know a thing about building, just destroying. Tearing them down is necessary but it's not everything."

"He doesn't need a monster." He resumed blotting out the gray emblem.

"You're his father. I know, that's not stopped some men from being actual monsters. That's not you."

"I've done things-"

"No good man should have to endure. That's war in a nutshell. Come home." Barnes hopped down. "Look, you wanted to be a hero. You already were one, to Ace. Be Ace's hero. You can come back out here, you can do both if you need to." Barnes let his words settle. "I brought you something."

"Signed picture?" Mike bit out.

"Later. For now, I've got you a neural mask. You've seen these." He handed it over.

Mike Peterson looked at it, tears forming. "You don't play."

"I do for keeps."

Sam's friends rolled in the first of the survivors. Barnes headed back to get the others to the helicopter. "We drop them off, then get you home."


	22. Chapter 22

"I find your story of personal time travel more convincing, Miss, than I do your explanation of James Buchanan Barnes becoming Nomad by way of wrecking Washington, D.C."

Steve envisioned the sympathy card appropriate for the Senator's mother. It was soothing to consider shading and tones of yellow.

"Not only does it besmirch the name of a fallen hero, it requires acceptance that a ninety year old wrought havoc of building shattering proportions."

"I've found that's often who does, Senator." Steve smiled. It didn't reach her eyes. "You've hidden behind heroes yourself, and the difference here is that he's my friend. It's also the truth. What befell him was a tragedy compounded by horror. Lost in a mission, captured by the enemy, controlled for decades. And yet, as he did once before after being a prisoner of war, he's chosen to keep fighting instead of pursuing any number of more relaxing pursuits."


	23. Chapter 23

Barnes dug out his phone as they approached California, tossing it to Mike. "Better call your sister. She might want to pick you up at the airport. Not that I won't provide curbside, but neighbors..."

Mike dialed. It wasn't a long conversation, but Barnes looked at gauges he didn't even need. He tore up the miles, JARVIS clearing things with air traffic control computers. 

The sister was standing beside her car as Barnes landed the chopper. Mike looked at him, exhaled and turned on the neural net, before exiting. Ace pounded the tarmac to hurl himself into his father's arms.

"You've got a date." The voice was Natasha's, probably coming via his phone. She was standing on the tarmac, out of view of the Petersons.

Barnes dropped down, crossing to Natasha. "How's the kid settling in?"

"Didn't see the news? I'll tell you on the way. After you shower."

So, he was ripe. When did the quinjet get a shower?

"Keep your left arm out, you'll have to buff that separately. It's a sonic shower, better not to test the interactions just now," Janet chipped in.

He stripped down to his briefs and stepped inside the chamber/stall, removing his last clothing one handed. It felt like an electric toothbrush but over his whole body. It turned off. He peeked out, right arm angled for some value of modesty. "What-" Under the boxers and t-shirt were a pair of pants of an unmistakable green shade. He scooped up the clothes with both hands and got dressed quickly before stepping out.

Natasha tossed him a clean rag. "The Sokovia photos caught someone's attention; Steve's been in a Congressional hearing all day."

He started wiping down his left arm. He knew what he'd looked like with the left side of his uniform shredded; like the Winter Soldier re-branded. The only thing surprising was it took this long. He looked down at his legs. These fit better than anything Army, no matter the color.

"You want to brush or should I?" Jan asked.

He held out his hand. He first brushed just the ends, as his mother and sisters had so long ago, then changed to long strokes from his scalp down.

"Natasha, you get left."

"Jan-"

"You're at bat, slugger. Bases are loaded, Steve's made sure of that. All you've got to do is remind people why you're America's sweetheart."

He was not the man in the textbooks. No one was. Schoolbooks couldn't, shouldn't capture the battlefield. "What are you two doing?" They were braiding his hair, but doing it in tandem was unique.

"Men make the clothes but presentation counts. You are the best-known non-celebrity, James. Work that." She did some complicated twisting at the nape of his neck, he felt pins being eased in.

Natasha brought him a shirt, much nicer than any war laundry, and a ribboned coat.

"What?"

"You earned every one of those. Get dressed, I'll go up with Clint." Jan sallied forward.

"I need a shave."


	24. Chapter 24

The day was wearing on Steve. The Senators had been spelling each other in order not to call a recess. There had been no lunch period called. She had sipped the water carafe down more than half way. They had clearly misjudged. She could see the senators were fraying, from disappointment if not dismay.

The chamber doors opened. Bucky was in uniform, not his Avengers' uniform. Uniform. It was the Stark Expo all over again, but with left breast confetti. Janet. Bucky strode down the aisle. Steve picked out the braid underscoring the lip of Bucky's cover.

"Who are you?" This was one of the younger representatives of the American government.

"James Buchanan Barnes, 107th, retired." The gobsmacked silence was impressive, he thought he might have echoed.

Supper recess was called.


End file.
